What hope for girls with role models like these?

AFeW months ago, the surgically enhanced Kim Kardashian was on the cover of Vogue India with the headline: ‘Why are 160 million people obsessed with her?’

Lips, bum, breasts — there’s hardly a part of her body that hasn’t been altered to transform her into a woman who makes Jessica Rabbit look dowdy.

Meanwhile, in Britain this week, another body image icon appeared on the cover of Cosmopolitan, a style bible for countless young women.

She is 5ft 5in, 20st Tess Holliday, a self-proclaimed champion for ‘body confidence’ in plus- size women. ‘If I saw a body like mine on this magazine when I was young,’ she says, ‘it would have changed my life.’

No wonder that with role models ranging from tiny-waisted Kim to bountiful Tess, young girls who seek inspiration and solace from fashion magazines are hopelessly confused — and, it seems, increasingly unhappy.

So confused that a survey this week claimed one in four teenage girls in Britain now self-harms. Why? Because they worry about their appearance and conforming to body stereotypes.

But how can they have a realistic expectation of how their own bodies should look when they are presented with such physical extremes in magazines and on social media? That’s not to mention the armies of stick-thin models who parade across the fashion pages like dead-eyed gazelles.

The perils of aping any of these looks should be all too plain — but when you are a woman trying to be accepted in a shallow world, it’s all too easy to be blinded by insecurity.

Mother of three Leah Cambridge, 29, was so desperate for a perfect postbaby body that she went to Turkey for a Kim Kardashian special, a ‘bum lift’. But she died. How does her children’s father explain to them that Mummy died because she wanted to be perfect — when she always was in their eyes?

The perils of anorexia are welldocumented. For me, most worrying is the promotion of Cosmo’s new cover girl. Yes, Tess has an exquisite face. But is she really a healthy role model for teenage girls? Being fat is no fun.

The celebration of her curves sends out a message: that obesity can be glamorous. Yes, a big girl can look lovely. But in a world where teenagers are fascinated by the endless images pouting on social media, we’ve lost sight of what a healthy teen body looks like.

It’s not the product of a plastic surgeon’s knife, and it’s also not a 20st frame. There is a happy medium that involves running around outdoors from a young age, sport after school, watching what you eat and self-control.

It’s not rocket science, but it might help girls to learn to love themselves.